


read me, you know how i feel

by owilde



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detectives, Attempt at Humor, Cults, Getting Together, M/M, Minimal Research Was Done, Psychic Abilities, Solving crimes, Supernatural Elements, Wordcount: 5.000-10.000, really just an excuse to write crime and malec
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2019-01-05 09:32:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12187428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owilde/pseuds/owilde
Summary: "I'm tired," Alec stated. "I'm tired, and it's six in the morning, and we have a dead man with no ID."Magnus continued to smile. "I can think of less fun things," he said.





	read me, you know how i feel

**Author's Note:**

> uhhh so i had nothing else to do than to write and so???
> 
> also a friend asked me to write something and what else am i gonna do than be a Good Friend and deliver on my promise to do just that (you're welcome, Lea)

Magnus eyed the white board absent-mindedly, sipping his coffee. There were a few pictures – on the uppermost left corner, the victim. On the right side, in a neat vertical row, some pictures from the crime scene. Magnus frowned.

"Think he shot himself?" He asked lightly.

"Your humour is, as always, astounding," a slightly dry voice replied.

Magnus turned to look at Alec, smiling. "Who says I was joking?"

Alec had been eyeing the same white board, but his eyes briefly flickered over to Magnus. He held eye contact as he took a long sip of his black coffee. "I'm tired," he stated. "I'm tired, and it's six in the morning, and we have a dead man with no ID."

Magnus continued to smile. "I can think of less fun things," he said.

Alec looked at him darkly, before turning his eyes back to the pictures. Magnus did the same.

"No," Alec said after a while. "I don't think he shot himself. The wound would be on the left side."

Magnus' brows raised slightly. "He was left handed? How do you know?"

He heard Alec sigh heavily. There was slight rustle, and then Magnus felt something smack lightly against his arm. He turned his head, and took the papers Alec had slapped him with.

"Because I read the case file," Alec said. "As you should have, too."

Magnus flicked through the papers, pausing to read some descriptions of the injuries and the scene. "In my defence," he started, "I had a very good night yesterday." He neglected to mention that said  _good_  meant, in this case, that he'd settled on his couch around six with some wine and Chinese take-away and had proceeded to watch TV until it had been closer to midnight.

Alec muttered something under his breath. Magnus smirked.

The lights in the hallway flickered on, and they both turned their heads to look as Jace walked in with his hands in his pockets like he owned the entire station. Magnus felt his mood dampen considerably. He enjoyed the rare early mornings he got alone with Alec; he didn't enjoy it when said early mornings were interrupted by obnoxious relatives. Even if they  _did_ have a right to be there.

"Morning Alec— oh," Jace said as his eyes landed on Magnus. "I didn't know you'd be here, as well."

"Magnus is generally welcome to all John Doe cases," Alec answered for him. "Helps with the ID part, you know. And I invited him."

Magnus gave Jace what he considered a dazzling smile. "A pleasure to see you, as ever."

"I'm sure," Jace huffed. He let out a loud whistle as his eyes fell on the white board. "Another one?"

"What do you mean 'another one'?" Magnus asked, frowning.

Alec sighed again. "You really need to start reading the case files," he said in a resigned way, as if he could already tell that it wouldn't happen. "What Jace means is that this is our third case with a similar M.O."

"That being?"

It was Jace who answered him. "Male victim, middle to late thirties, shot in the head once and carved with some weird ass marks."

Magnus nodded slowly. He turned his head back to the case file in his hands, eyeing a picture from the crime scene. The man was lying on his back with his arms spread out on either side. His shirt was open, revealing said marks on his skin. "And does anyone have a clue as to what the marks mean?"

From the corner of his eye, he saw Alec shrug. "We've consulted some specialists and professors, but so far we've got nothing. I was kind of hoping you'd have some ideas."

The marks weren't from any culture that Magnus knew of, that much he could tell. There was a chance of them belonging to some foreign, little tribe or some odd branch of a larger cult, but he doubted it. "Probably a new gang," he speculated. "Maybe even some kind of a cult."

"Great," Jace sighed. "I fucking love cults."

Alec stood up and downed the rest of his coffee, remarkably not flinching at the bitterness. He moved over to the white board and wrote down ' _CULT?'_  in the middle of it in bright red. He paused for a second, then circled the word.

"Is this why you're the number one crime agency in this neighbourhood?" Magnus asked. "Because of the spectacular detective work?"

"Shut up," Alec mumbled. He drew and arrow going from  _CULT_ to the close-up of one of the marks.

Jace turned to look at Magnus suspiciously. "Why are you here, really?" He asked.

"Like Alec told you," Magnus started dryly, "because you people need an ID, and evidently aren't capable of getting it yourself."

Alec shot Jace a look. "Magnus is a professional," he said with a scolding tone. "The only reason we didn't bring him in sooner was because the other two victims we did identify on scene."

Jace continued to look sceptical. "Sure," he said slowly. Then he shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts. "Well, do we have a word from the autopsy?"

"Izzy should be finishing it by now," Alec said. "Let's go ask."

 

***

 

The morgue was, as always, cold and slightly unwelcoming.

They were all circled around the body of the unknown victim, eyeing him with varying degrees of confusion and mild interest.

Izzy snapped her plastic gloves off. Magnus like Isabelle remarkably better than Jace. She didn't say any nonsensical things, and seemed to be on board of Magnus' attempts to ask Alec out for coffee. And besides, she was an excellent coroner.

"I'd say he's between thirty-eight and forty years old, no considerable health defects or bodily marks. No piercings, one tattoo on his right calf of a sword. Recently had his nails done and dyes his hair regularly." Isabelle paused, eyeing her notes. "Time of death sometime after three and before five in the afternoon."

"He was found around seven," Alec said, eyeing the man thoughtfully. "So, that works. Cause of death?"

"One shot to the head with a .22 calibre," Isabelle said. "I'd say it was fired from a pretty close range, there were traces of gun powder on his scalp. No exit wound. The marks were most likely done post-mortem."

"Interesting," Alec mumbled with a frown. "On the other ones, the marks were done before the shooting."

"Maybe he put up a fight?" Magnus suggested.

"He did," Isabelle confirmed. "Defence wounds on his hands, and some fibres under his nails but I can't get any definitive DNA from it." She looked at them. "I'd say it's the same killer as before, or someone who's close to them."

"Good," Alec said. "Thanks, Iz." He turned to look at Magnus. "Can you get a reading?"

Jace, who had wondered further off, scoffed quietly. Magnus ignored him, focusing instead on the man in front of him.

"Desperate energy," he said. "Not only because he was murdered, though that plays into it as well. But there was something…" He frowned, squinting his eyes. "A daughter? Or maybe a son, but he definitely had a child. I'd lean towards daughter. Someone he'd feel bad leaving alone, but they can't be too young, or the feeling would be stronger. I'd wager no spouse, but I might be wrong. If there is one, he wasn't too concerned about them. Divorce, possibly."

Alec was looking at him like he believed in what he was saying – and Magnus felt warm, because while he could deal with sceptics, having Alec trust him felt significant, in a way.

"Anything with his work?" Alec prodded. "Friends, where he might've lived, anything?"

Magnus closed his eyes. He felt cold. "For work, something very white collar," he started. "Cold—something cold and impersonal. Office work. Something that pays well, but nothing he feels terribly attached to." He moved on, trying to navigate the current of emotions flooding his way. "Not too many friends. Some people he feels close to, I think— he knows a Tom."

He heard Jace mumble, " _how the fuck would you know that_ ," but ignored it.

"No one's standing out specifically when it comes to people, safe for the child. Lives close to the centre, you might want to go around with some pictures around the expensive areas. Someone will know him, he was well liked by the community." Magnus' eyes flickered open, and he swayed on his feet a little. "That's all I can do for now," he finished.

Alec offered a blinding smile in his direction. "That's great, Magnus, thank you." He turned to look at Jace, who was sulking in the corner. "Take Montgomery and go see if anyone knows him around Williamsburg and Park Slope, ask someone else to cover Downtown."

Jace saluted him. "Will do."

Alec turned back to Magnus. "Let's go see Luke. I'll bet you ten dollars he wants to attach you to this case as permanently as he can."

"Oh, darling," Magnus said. "I'll bet you twenty dollars Jace will try to protest every step of the way."

Alec grinned, which Magnus thought was a perfectly inappropriate thing to do in front of dead man. "He can try, but Luke's the boss. We're keeping you, whether he likes it or not." Alec paused. "Besides, Jace is just sceptical. Deep down, he likes you."

Magnus raised a single brow. "I'll bet you a dinner he doesn't like me."

Alec laughed, and turned to walk away. "Don't be ridiculous," he said. "I'm too expensive for that sort of a bet."

Magnus blinked after him.

Isabelle grinned, organizing her tools. "He's right," she said. "He's a picky eater and a terrible date."

"Oh," Magnus said, smiling. "We'll see, won't we?"

 

***

 

Magnus grumbled only a little as he discreetly handed ten dollars over to Alec behind the desk.

"Of course we'll have you as a part of the investigation," Luke said, grinning at Magnus. "We need someone to tell us what the hell is going on, don't we?"

"To be fair, I think you're more than capable of doing that," Magnus protested lightly. "But I'll be glad to help, if I can."

Alec pocketed the tenner and smiled, satisfied. "I'm thinking that while Jace, Montgomery and Scott scout for the man's name, Magnus and I could take a look at the marks? Try to see if they lead to anything?"

Luke nodded. "We need to find out who's behind this before the public gets too panicked. Not too much has leaked to the press, but I'd say it's bound to happen sooner or later. I don't want to cause a media storm."

"I can see the headlines," Magnus said. "'Ritual Killings Abound in Brooklyn, Police Befuddled' – something like that."

"The press can say whatever it wants, they're not the ones doing all the work," Alec mumbled.

"We need to thread this one carefully," Luke said, shooting Alec a look. "Trust me, we do not want anyone calling us incompetent on the papers. Bad press leads to bad catch records, I've seen it all before."

Alec raised his hands in surrender. "I know," he said. "It's still annoying."

"I know it is," Luke agreed. "But it's all the more reason to get this case solved. Let Magnus see the collection of the marks, try and see if you can get anything out of them."

They left Luke's office and walked down to Alec's room down the hallway side by side, their arms barely brushing.

Alec's desk looked like an even bigger of a mess than Magnus' apartment after he'd had Ragnor over for drinks. He sat down as Alec, who appeared slightly flushed, fished papers from here and there and attempted to pile them according to some sort of logic.

Finally, he pulled out a piece of paper and handed it over to Magnus across the desk. "Take a crack at it," he said. "It's got all the symbols we've seen so far. Fray sketched them for us."

"Ah," Magnus exclaimed. He glanced over the paper, but nothing stuck out visually. "You seriously have no leads? No clues as to who's doing this?"

Alec shrugged, and sat down as well. He lifted his feet on the table. "Like you said, might be a new cult. I'd rather it not be, because cults are tenacious and difficult, but…"

"But it would mean an eventual resolution," Magnus finished for him. He set the paper down, and splayed his fingers atop the symbols. "They don't feel particularly warm, which is a good sign. Means they haven't been used much yet. Or at least not in—in carvings."

Alec hummed. "That's something. If it's a new cult, that makes sense."

Magnus nodded. "There's also a weird sort of ambition. Like the owner of them wants something particular, and they're very determined to get it."

Alec made a face. "That's no good. I hate criminals who have an agenda, it always makes things worse."

"I'd maybe say something religious," Magnus said. He withdrew his hand. "The energy feels off. Whatever they mean, their implications might be good but the reasons less so."

"Great," Alec sighed. "We've got a cult leader with bad intentions. Who would have ever guessed."

"On the positive side," Magnus said, "it's new. It can still be suppressed."

Alec made a half-hearted sound of agreement. Then he abruptly stood up. "Wanna go for a coffee?"

Magnus agreed in a heartbeat.

 

***

 

"Why in the world would you order black coffee in a café?" Magnus asked, eyeing Alec's cup of liquid form of bitterness. He didn't even use sugar.

Alec shrugged, twirling his spoon. "I like it," he said. "You get used to it at the station."

"Depressing," Magnus commented. He blew softly on his own chai latte to cool it down. "What is it with cops and coffee? Do you have a box of donuts at the office as well?"

Magnus nearly missed the way Alec rolled his eyes. "We don't have donuts," he argued. "But maybe we should. What's wrong with donuts?"

"Everything, if you're a cop."

"I'm a detective."

"Same difference."

The café was quiet around them, despite the fact that it was lunch hour. It was probably the location – Alec had dragged him to the skeeviest, cheapest looking place he'd ever witnessed in this kind of a neighbourhood.

"How'd you find this place?" Magnus asked. He eyed the walls, which were decorated – if it could be called that – with plastic vines, some of which looked more black than green.

Alec shrugged. "I like walking around," he said, which explained precisely nothing. Magnus didn't prod, because Alec didn't seem too eager to share. Instead, he sipped his drink.

"So, what do you do?" Alec asked. "When you're not working for us, I mean."

Magnus made vague hand gestures. "I hold readings," he said. "People want to know how their loved ones are doing after death. Sometimes, people want to know about themselves. Sometimes, it's something different." He paused. "I have a shop, you know, on Liberty. You should stop by sometime."

Alec eyed him curiously. "For a reading?"

"If you want to," Magnus replied. "I also sell very nice CD's. They help with stress."

Alec looked defensive. "I'm not stressed."

Magnus lifted a brow. "I didn't say you were." He took another sip. "I'm just saying. I'll give you one for free, colleague discount."

"Colleague discount," Alec repeated. He sounded, unless Magnus was reading into it too much, disappointed. "I'll stop by," he promised, and smiled. "Text me the address, when you have the time."

 

***

 

Alec slumped against the backroom wall, holding a glass of red wine. He kept giggling and pointing at the paintings on the wall.

Magnus found it all perhaps a little too amusing.

And God, was he drunk.

"You've worked, what," Alec started, slurring a little. "Like, at least twenty cases for us? And we've never hung out, properly? Why is that?"

"You've always said you have other plans," Magnus reminded him.

Alec looked surprised, then frowned. "Oh," he said. "Yeah. My policy."

Magnus straightened his leg until the sole of his shoe fit against Alec's. "What policy?"

"It's this…" Alec blinked, then took a long gulp of his wine. He gagged only a little – Magnus felt oddly proud. "I have a thing," Alec continued. "I don't get involved with my colleagues."

"Oh," Magnus said, and he sounded disappointed even to his own ears. He poured himself a new drink, before passing the bottle over to Alec. "Why is that?"

Alec waved his hand. "I don't know. It makes things easier at work. And I guess since I've only known you from work, I thought… I don't know."

"Well," Magnus said, raising his glass for an unrequited toast. "Now you know me outside of work, too."

Alec looked thoughtful. "I do," he admitted. "So, I guess that means…" His sentence drifted off. For a second, Magnus thought he might fall asleep. Then he suddenly perked up, leaning closer to Magnus. "Have you ever done a reading on me?"

Magnus blinked, taken aback. "You've never been in here before, how could I have?"

"No, I meant, at work," Alec explained. "Have you ever done a reading on me?"

"I respect people's privacy," Magnus said. "I don't do readings without a permission."

Alec shuffled closer, and crossed his legs. He eyed Magnus intensely. "I give you permission," he said, and he sounded soberer than before.

Magnus frowned. "Are you sure? We're drunk, and—"

"I'm sure," Alec interrupted. "Come on, it'll be fun."

Magnus set his glass down on the floor. He gave Alec a suspicious look. "If you want me to stop at any point, let me know," he said. "Okay?"

Alec nodded solemnly.

Magnus sat cross-legged opposite to him, and gently took Alec's hands in his, palms facing up. He closed his eyes.

"Well?" Alec prompted. "You always say—"

Magnus hushed him. The backs of Alec's hands felt cold against his own palms. The room felt too silent, and too small.

"Your siblings," Magnus started. "You think about them a lot. There's a sort of protective energy around them. You feel responsible for them?"

"Sort of," Alec's voice floated from somewhere. "I guess I do, yeah."

Magnus hummed. "You don't have too many friends," he continued. "Not outside of work, at least. Perhaps that's why you feel so closed off, like there's a wall – not a literal wall, I've met people who've tried to build literal walls but it takes practice."

"How do you do that?" Alec asked.

"You don't want to know," Magnus replied. He fell silent for a minute. "You like your work. It makes you feel necessary. I think—do you ever struggle with feeling like you need to fill in a certain role?"

"I—I guess," Alec said. His voice sounded faint. "Is that a bad thing?"

Magnus shook his head. "Not necessarily, no. Try not to stretch into too many roles, though, or you'll crack under the pressure." Suddenly he frowned. "There's something in your past," he continued quietly. "Something happened that changed you. Not quite traumatizing, but…" He swam further. "Some kind of a rift. Between you and someone you considered to be close—not romantically, this feels like a family member who's now like a dark corner at the edge of your mind, something you can put to rest for a while but not completely escape, and there's hurt, not only emotional but—"

He was pulled out of his mind when Alec abruptly withdrew his own hands. Magnus opened his eyes to see Alec staring at him, shaking slightly.

"That's not—" Alec started, then shook his head. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked you to do this."

Magnus swallowed. His throat felt dry. "Alec, what—"

But Alec had already stood up and left.

 

***

 

Jace was staring at the chair usually occupied by Alec with a heavy frown. He stirred his coffee, perched on the edge of a desk.

"He called in sick," Jace said. His eyes shifted over to Magnus. "He never calls in sick."

Magnus knew Jace could see the exhaustion and guilt on his face, but he didn't care. He stared back. "I guess no one can stay healthy forever," he replied dryly.

Jace squinted his eyes. "Whatever happened, you better sort it out," he said, and his tone made it sound like a warning. "He's my brother. I'd do anything for him."

"I know," Magnus said. He turned his gaze down. "I know."

 

***

 

When Alec called in sick for the second day in a row, Magnus wrestled Isabelle for his home address and trekked down there during his lunch break.

He knocked on the apartment door he hoped to God truly was Alec's, his stomach feeling like a bundle of pure nerves as he waited. It took less than a minute for him to hear footsteps approaching the door. It pulled open, revealing a pale-looking Alec wrapped in a blanket.

"Magnus?" He croaked.

"Um," Magnus said, blinking in confusion. "Oh. You're really sick."

Alec frowned, sneezing. "Obviously," he said. "I called in sick, didn't I?"

Magnus nodded slowly. "You did," he agreed. "We— _I_  just thought it might've had something to do with… with the other night."

"Oh," Alec said. For a second he looked like he didn't know what to do – then he stepped aside. "Come in, please."

Magnus followed him to the living room, where Alec fell on the couch, slouched against the backrest with his feet curled next to him. He had a cup of tea on the table, still steaming. Magnus sat down on an armchair.

"You do drink tea," he said, surprised.

Alec huffed, smiling. "I'll have you know I have an excellent tea collection in the kitchen," he replied. Then his face fell. "Look… I'm really sorry. I should've called to let you know that I don't blame you for anything. It's on me, I asked for a reading and then stormed out." He shrugged. "Turns out my body doesn't react well to stress."

"I can bring over that CD I was talking about," Magnus offered weakly.

Alec laughed a little. "It's fine. But really – I'm sorry if you thought you'd done something wrong. You haven't."

Magnus shrugged. "I should've stopped before it went too far," he said. "It happens sometimes that I get too wrapped up in somebody's head space. I'm sorry."

Alec shook his head. "I don't blame you," he repeated. He stared at the coffee table blankly. "It was… what you saw, or felt, or whatever. It was my dad. I've cut all ties with him, but it feels—well, like you said. I can't really escape him."

"I hope one day you can," Magnus said. "Or at least come to terms with it."

"Me too," Alec said. He lifted his eyes, staring at Magnus. "I'll come back to work in a few days. And maybe we could…" He paused, hesitating. "Maybe we could go for coffee again."

Magnus smiled softly. "I'd like that."

 

***

 

"Our third vic is called Terrence Huntington," Jace said, pointing at the picture of him. In this photo, taken from his Facebook page, he was smiling. In the next photo over to the left, he was dead. "Magnus was right, he lived Downtown alone with his fifteen-year-old daughter, Julie. Divorced his ex-wife three years ago. Works in accounting."

Alec smiled at Magnus. "You helped a lot," he said quietly, as Jace continued his briefing in the background.

"Oh, I didn't do nothing much," Magnus said, waving the comment aside.

"You did," Alec insisted. "Thank you."

Jace pointed at the word  _CULT_ on the whiteboard. "Since this is our third victim of a similar type, and because of the marks carved into each victim, we're thinking it's probably a cult. Magnus said he felt it's—what was it?"

"Probably tied to religion, fairly new, malicious intent," Magnus summarized out loud to the rest of the room.

"Right," Jace said. "So, keep an eye out – if anyone says anything, we need to know. Right now, we need to find out more about this cult, and prevent mass hysteria. No interviews to the press about potential serial killers, please."

"Montgomery, Jackson, I want you two working on finding out if there's anything connecting the three victims," Alec piped up. "Consult Izzy if you have to. Jace, you and Scott go ask around about a potential cult – you'll know who to talk to. Me and Magnus will go interview the victims' families."

"Delightful," Magnus said. "I love grief counselling."

Alec shot him a look. "Come on, it'll be like a home visit," he said.

"No psychic readings!" Jace called out from the doorway. Alec shot him a thumbs-up.

Magnus sighed.

 

***

 

The first victim had been Nicholas Danbury, who'd lived with his fiancé in a very small and unassuming apartment in Brooklyn.

Magnus assumed that once upon a time, the décor of the apartment had been beautiful. Now it looked like a wreck. He and Alec were sat next to each other by the kitchen table, eyeing their watery cups of coffee with forced, polite smiles.

Aubrey sat across from them, holding a crumpled tissue in his hands. "I'm sorry," he said, and his voice shook a little. "It's just—it hasn't even been a month, you know? But it feels like a forever."

Alec supplied him with another tissue. "I know," he said reassuringly. "We're doing everything we can to find out who's behind this, trust me. And you'll be the first one to know once we figure it out."

Aubrey blew his nose and watched them wearily. "Knowing won't bring Nick back," he said. His eyes flickered. "I shouldn't be so difficult. You're only trying to help."

Underneath the table, Alec kicked Magnus on the shin, as if to say,  _do something_. Magnus shot him a dirty look, before smiling gently towards Aubrey. He reached out across the table, and Aubrey took his hands, looking confused.

"I don't know if you believe in this sort of thing or not," Magnus started, "but I can try to reach out to Nicholas, if you'll allow me to. It would greatly help in our investigation."

Aubrey blinked, then frowned. "You're a psychic?" He asked.

Magnus nodded.

Aubrey looked sceptical. "I don't know," he said slowly. "I already visited this one lady, and she didn't know anything."

"Not everyone in my profession in legitimate," Magnus admitted. "But if you're willing to trust me, I can try."

Aubrey shot Alec a questioning glance. "You trust him?"

"I do," Alec said.

Magnus felt his chest warm up. Aubrey took a stronger hold of his hands, his lips set into a thin line.

"Fine," he said. "We'll try it."

Magnus nodded once, then closed his eyes. Images began to flood slowly, of Aubrey and Nicholas; together on a holiday, lying in bed, eating dinner, walking in the park. He felt a pang of grief slam against his stomach, and breathed in sharply. "You went to Rome?" He asked quietly.

There was a moment of silence. Then Aubrey's trembling voice said, "Yes."

Magnus swallowed. These kinds of readings never got any easier, when the hurt was so fresh and raw and revengeful. "I'm trying to move to the present," he explained. "I'm getting a lot of the past—Rome, Paris, Oslo… you took a trip to Europe, I'm assuming, quite recently—oh."

"What?" Alec asked from his left.

"He proposed to you in London," Magnus said. He heard Aubrey's breath hitch.

"He did," Aubrey confirmed. "How do you—"

"Wait," Magnus said, silencing him. He felt warmth flood his mind. "He feels content," Magnus said. "Content, and—there's a sense of quiet, and peace. A slight urge, but that's normal in sudden deaths, the last feelings usually carry over."

"Anything that might help us?" Alec asked. Aubrey had fallen silent.

Magnus frowned. "Panic," he said. "Again, the sense of urgency – a touch of cold, some kind of a ritual, almost. I can hear incanting. There's water somewhere nearby, and the environment feels used—a warehouse?"

"Should we stop?" Alec asked, and Magnus got the sense that he wasn't talking to him. After a beat, Alec placed a hand on Magnus' shoulder. "We can stop."

Aubrey saw them to the door and thanked them for giving him something to hold on to.

Magnus couldn't stomach eating anything for the rest of the day.

 

***

 

"Get the fuck out of my house," Peter Stanbury's mother growled. "I already told he cops all I know, and I ain't having no more of you in my house, poking around, asking if my son's in a  _cult_."

Alec raised his hands in surrender. "I understand, Ma'am," he said, "but this might help us find—"

"I don't need to know," she muttered darkly. "All I know is my son's dead, and nothing ain't bringing him back. I don't care who did it. Now get out."

Alec and Magnus hurried out of the apartment complex, side by side.

 

***

 

Terrence Huntington's daughter had been taken in by her mother, Hannah, who lived with her new husband in a nice apartment in Manhattan. Hannah seemed straight-forward and bored, like the news of her ex-husband's death hadn't had that big of an impact on her. She stared at Magnus and Alec from the doorway over her take-away coffee, keys in one hand and a handbag in another.

"I have a meeting I have to get to," she said, not sounding very apologetic to Magnus' ear. "But if you want to, you can talk to my daughter. She's in her room, down the hallway and last door on the right."

"Of course," Alec said pleasantly. He had his hands behind his back. "We're grateful to your co-operation, and we'll do our best to find out who killed Terrence."

Hannah glanced at her wristwatch, and sighed. "Yeah," she said absently. "Alright. Tom should be here now, so…" She pushed past Magnus and disappeared down the hallway, the click of her heels echoing after her.

Magnus glanced at Alec, raising a brow. "You want to do this?" He asked. "She's only fifteen."

Alec shrugged helplessly. "We'll investigate every clue," he said. "Sometimes, it's difficult. But it has to be done."

Magnus nodded, and followed him to Julie's room, closing the front door behind him.

Julie sat on her bed, her hands around her knees. She seemed to barely register Alec's words as he explained who they were and what they were here to do. Alec finished, and silence fell on the room.

It took a few seconds for Julie to speak. "I don't want anyone to try to reach dad," she said. Her voice sounded hoarse. "He's dead, he can't say anything anymore."

Magnus nodded. "I understand," he said. "Could we still ask some questions?"

Julie shrugged. "I guess, yeah. Not much I can tell you, though."

Alec took a notepad out and clicked his pen open. "Do you know if there was anyone who might've wanted to hurt your father?" He asked. "Any jealous co-workers, exes, anything like that?"

Julie shrugged again. "My dad didn't really know anyone," she said. "It was mostly just me and him after the divorce. And before you ask, it was amicable. Dad didn't hate mom, or anything. It just wasn't working."

Alec wrote something down. "Alright," he said. "So you don't know if he had any enemies?"

" _No_ ," Julie said in a disbelieving tone. "Look, my dad was a good guy. He hadn't done anything to—to earn  _this_."

"We weren't saying that," Magnus hurried to say. "We're not blaming your dad for anything, Julie. We're just trying to find out who's responsible."

She eyed them for a while. "Is it true?" She asked. "About the—the marks on him?"

Magnus saw Alec nod.

Julie hesitated for a while. She tugged a strand of hair behind her ear. "I heard my friend talk of something," he started. "No one can know that I said this, okay? But…" She paused. "Word is, there's this freaky gang that's like, trying to summon an angel or some shit. I don't know how legit that is, but that's what I heard."

Magnus and Alec looked at each other.

Magnus raised a brow.  _Should we investigate?_

Alec nodded, once.

 

***

 

Jace was desperately flipping through a thick folder when Magnus and Alec stepped into the briefing room. He looked up at them, and let out a sigh.

"Thank fuck," he said. "Me and Scott heard about this cult, the Circle or something. Word is they're trying to—"

"Summon an angel?" Alec asked. He walked over to his own chair and slumped down. "We heard."

Magnus pressed at his eyes with the soles of his palms. "This is ridiculous," he said.

"Oh, so summoning an angel is where you cross the line?" Jace asked, mockingly.

"Contrary to an apparently popular belief, I don't believe in supernatural beings taking on a physical form," Magnus drawled. "And I'd appreciate it if you kept your scepticism to yourself."

"Well—"

"Jace, please," Alec said. He'd thrown his head back and closed his eyes, and was now pressing the bridge of his nose like he had a headache. "We don't have the time for this."

Magnus sat down next to him, and crossed his right leg over his left. "He's right. We know the name of this cult, and we know that they're dangerous – we need to start tracking down members."

Jace huffed, and gestured towards the folder in his lap. "What do you think I'm trying to do? I haven't gotten anywhere yet—" He cut himself off, and jumped off from his desk. "Shit," he said. "Shit, fuck, Luke's going to kill me."

Alec opened his eyes and straightened his back. "What is it?"

"You know how we brought that one guy in last month, for the hate speech thing?" Jace asked, not looking up from the folder. He was viciously highlighting something. "That dude's connected to all the victims. He's worked with all of them."

Magnus leaned forward. "Who?"

Jace lifted his head, looking at them. "Valentine," he said. "Valentine Morgenstern."

 

***

 

Valentine reeked of despicable energy. Magnus stared him down across the table of the interrogation room, his arms crossed. He'd been asked to interrogate a suspect before – but this felt different. Valentine kept staring at him with an off-putting smile, his head tilted a little to the right.

"So," Magnus started. He could feel Alec's burning gaze on his back through the darkened window behind him. "Valentine, is it?"

Valentine's smile widened. "That's right," he said. "And you are?"

Magnus' eyes narrowed. "Magnus Bane," he said. "Not exactly a pleasure to meet you."

"On the contrary," Valentine said. "I'm delighted to meet you. I've heard a lot of good things about you."

"Have you now," Magnus drawled.

"Oh, yes. Everyone speaks highly of your skills; they say you're the best psychic in all of Brooklyn."

"Only Brooklyn? I'm disappointed."

Valentine hummed, crossing his fingers on top of the table. "There's always room for improvement, in all of us."

"Even in you?" Magnus asked. "I'd think a man like you would consider himself above the rest of humanity."

"I'm no God," Valentine said. "I'm merely a messenger. I take the words given to me and I pass them on to the blessed people."

"And who do you consider to be 'blessed'?"

Valentine spread his hands as much as he could while wearing handcuffs. "Why, those with the mark of the Angel on them, of course. The cup, to bestow angelic blood. The sword, the bestow truth. And the mirror, to bestow the future. They had been marked by Raziel, and I knew that it was them that I should pass the message to."

Magnus consulted his notes. The symbols all matched the tattoos the victims had. "You're saying that you carved the message on to them and then killed them?"

Valentine looked, for the first time, hesitant. "I gave them the message of Raziel," he explained. "And they weren't ready to handle it. They had to die."

"Did they?" Magnus asked. Valentine's energy was the same one he'd felt from touching the symbols – ambitious, but devoted. He believed in what he was saying.

"It's alright," Valentine said. "They're with the Angel."

Magnus pursed his lips. "You would think that," he said. He turned his head towards the window. "He checks out. Believes every word he's saying."

He could almost picture Alec frowning on the other side.

 

***

 

Alec let out a loud sigh, and closed his eyes. They were standing by the steps outside the police station. It was snowing lightly.

Magnus turned to glance at the doors of the station, then turned back to look at the street. "I think that for a little while, I'll stick to my day job," he said.

Alec laughed a little, and shook his head. "Yeah, I wish I had something else to fall back on to, as well," he said. "But no, this is what I chose to do as my job."

Magnus smiled at him. "At least we got the guy," he said. "Look at the positives."

"Look at the positives," Alec echoed, a smile tugging at his lips as well. "I'll try to. In the meantime, how about getting me that stress CD you talked about?"

"I'll get you one," Magnus promised. "Friend discount."

"Friend?" Alec asked, eyeing him.

Magnus looked back. "How about that dinner we bet on?"

The corners of Alec's eyes crinkled. "Yeah," he agreed. "I'd love that."


End file.
